Send "Marillion " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Marillion has been around for three decades, gaining some commercial success in the UK back in the ‘80s but not much since. They’ve never stopped plugging along, through a divisive change of lead singers in the late ‘80s and through significant record label difficulties in the late ‘90s. But aside from their sizable cult following and hardcore prog-rock fans, the band is virtually unknown outside of their native England. So without any shot of ever getting on something like MTV Unplugged or VH1 Storytellers, Marillion has gone ahead and made their own acoustic album, featuring stripped-down versions of songs from 20 years’ worth of albums.The band rearranges many of these songs to divest them of some of their prog-rock hallmarks. Gone are the long, complex instrumental passages and massive guitar solos. Instead the emphasis is on the lyrics of lead singer Steve Hogarth and his collaborator John Helmer, and on the songwriting itself. The acoustic arrangements also allow the band to throw in piles of extra percussion instruments to give the songs a more organic feel. Finger cymbals, glockenspiel, xylophone, autoharp, and hammered dulcimer all make multiple appearances throughout the album. Fortunately Marillion is canny enough to keep all of these instruments as background elements, complementing the existing music instead of overwhelming it. As to the songs themselves, I feel as if I’m coming to this album all backwards. Despite having been aware of Marillion for a while, this is my first experience actually hearing a full album from the band. Helpfully, the band includes information about where each song first appeared in the liner notes, making it easy for newcomers to track down the original versions. What’s here is generally high-quality, with a few caveats. The album opens strong with the pair of “Go!” and “Interior Lulu.” The former starts quietly, with just Hogarth’s voice accompanied by a harmonium. The lyrics plead with an unknown person to make a change in their life, as the music gradually swells to include guitar, strings, and percussion before finally opening up into a cathartic chorus in the song’s final minute. “Lulu” distills a song that was originally 15 minutes long into just over seven. The song concerns internet-using shut-ins, and the band pulls out nearly every instrument in their arsenal here and makes it work. The xylophone-dominated opening feeds into the bongo-backed second section. Bell trees, harmonium, and even Portugese guitar add colors to the track....full text |
| Blogcritics |
| Before reviewing Marillion's new CD Less Is More, I must confess: I am largely unfamiliar with the group, as they are somewhat obscure in the US. The only exposure I've had to their music is through some UK "Best of the 80s" compilations, which included the singles "Lavender," "Kayleigh," and "Incommunicado." So this review may seem pretty basic to UK readers, but it also serves as an introduction to Marillion for US audiences. Marillion's story begins in 1979, when five musicians from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England formed the group. Led by original lead singer "Fish" (aka Derick W. Dick), the band pursued a progressive rock sound, heavily influenced by such artists as Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel-era Genesis. Their biggest success came when they released their third album, 1985's Misplaced Childhood, which contained the aforementioned single "Kayleigh."...full text |
| Popdose |
| The dread that falls over a fan when they hear their favorite band is about to release a live album or an umpteenth greatest hits compilation is palpable. You didn’t get this far being a music appreciator without seeing the hints. Those releases often signal a way out of a contract, a quick fill in order to move on with the messy business and start looking for a new label or, worse, a way of shuttering a career. In the late 1980s and on into the ’90s, artists found new wine in the old skins of the back catalog by recasting those tunes in an acoustic setting. MTV’s Unplugged phenomena held strong for a period of time, but then everyone felt the need to pull out the guitar cable, settle on a stool (or a haybale if one was really trying to make things rustic) and acousticize the hits. And now, the acoustic album has fallen into that same chilly subgenre, the filler album category. This brings us to Marillion’s latest offering, Less Is More, a collection of their songs spanning the years featuring vocalist Steve Hogarth, roughly 1989 to the present. A couple things to mention up front are that the acoustic arrangements are not a new idea as Hogarth, guitarist Steve Rothery and bassist Pete Trewavas often tour as the acoustic and abbreviated Los Trios Marillos. Also, while the band generally plies in the sound of electric rock/pop/prog, they’ve never been shy about turning off the power for recordings such as the 1997 release This Strange Engine, roughly half of which features acoustic instrumentation. Even so, one can’t help but feel this is a group who has been forced to wait for their muse and have made this album in the interim....full text |
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